Heat wave warning - tips?

[Xavier]

Hey guys and gals,

There is a heat wave warning for my area for today, and pretty much the next week. My 32gal tank is at 27-28 degrees Celcius, but a suspect that it will continue to climb past 30 by tomorrow and remain there, and maybe higher in a few days.

Most info says that past 29 degrees Celcius, my goldfish with become stressed. I read that I should remove the hood on my aquarium and place a fan to blow air on it, but I don't have a fan (budget tight this month). Also, my live plants need the light from the hood, don't they? I reduced the amount of time the lights are on to 7 hours (8am to noon then 7pm to 10pm)

I have an canister filter and read that I should put it in a bucket of cold water with ice. Although I tried this and it seemed to work, it is a huge hassle. I have a large icepack that would fit in a clean fish bag. Would placing it directly in the aquarium work? Would that stress the fish?

What is the most effective and simple way of lowering the water temperature, without stressing the fish?

Thanks in advance :)

[jaysee]

Goldfish are temperate fish, which means they live in warm water in the summer and cold water in the winter. Only in our fish tanks do they get a contant temp all year long. I wouldn't worry.

But yes, opening the lid and leaving the lights off will help. A fan blowing across the surface will bring the temp down a few degrees as well.

[Northernguy]

All I have ever done is what Jaysee described. We get heat waves here too and I haven't lost any fish from it.I don't think you need any ice added to anything.
You will have more water then usual evaporate from the tank but that easily fixed!lol

[Amazon]

It is always hot here, you should be fine. As said, a fan can bring the temp down a bit.

[Wild Turkey]

+1 probably fine.

To prepare, you can put full water bottles in the freezer. When the tank gets too hot put a bottle in, when its melted replace with a new one.

I doubt you will end up having to do anything like that but its nice to have the bottles on hand if you are expecting high temperatures.

[Ashley]

Get some fans to keep the air circulated. We had a heat wave here today, and will be the same for the rest of the week. keep tank lights off, if you have live plants wait until the sun is setting, and turn off before bed. Close the curtains, keep windows closed. Don't let that humid air in. Enjoy the heat :P

[Xavier]

Thanks for all the advice and alleviating my fears :)

Since I won't have a fan for at least two weeks, I'm freezing some water bottles just in case. Reminds me of when I kept a cooler in my tent in the desert to have cold five alive. LOL!

I'll remove the hood during most of the day and put it back once the sun sets to give my plants some light.

I also checked the water quality for safe measure, and the ammonia, nitrate and nitrites were all at 0.